Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles and Objectives

Investing in good deals only

As you will see from Rupa's resume, she had tremendous success in the stock market. While she believes there is certainly a component of luck in life, her stock market investments were not based on roll of the dice or hot tip of the day. Instead, every investment was carefully selected and she is constantly educating herself with different aspects of investing; from learning technical analysis and adding options and futures to her bag of tricks. Add Ricardo's years of expertise in corporate finance to the formula. We believe in the saying “Luck favors those who are well-prepared”. We apply the same level of scrutiny in our real estate investments. We don’t mind living through short-term setbacks for future long-term gains. You should not expect pure yield plays from us. We are not opposed to yield plays, but if the investment calls for change of plans for future returns, then that is what we will do.

Conservative investments

We are willing to take calculated risks but not gamble on a hunch or hope. For example, on our acquisition of Villa Valencia, we used conservative pro-forma numbers. In 2 years, we were able to increase the NOI by 98%. On Northridge Villas, our NOI within the first year was already where we projected it to be after 24 months! While we would like to claim that we like to under promise and over deliver, the reality is you never really know what could go wrong. Our motto is "conservative projections, aggressive execution". Some people don't log in to their stock accounts when the market is down because they get depressed. It is human nature, but put blinders on and focus on the opportunities. Similarly, yes the real-estate market is hot and people are willing pay crazy prices, but we will put blinders on and focus on each investment on its own and if the numbers make sense, it is a good deal! We are having to analyze many opportunities before finding the right ones, but they are out there..

Informal partnerships

Both Rupa and Ricardo came from a corporate career in large corporations and are done with protocols! We never liked the idea of being a sales people selling deals to people, instead we invite others to invest with us while learning and having fun. We want to be selective in who we work with, having a positive attitude is a must to be a passive in our deals!! You will find that we share a lot of detail information and explain the P&L, not just send out reports that you are unlikely to read in detail. Similarly, don’t be alarmed when you don’t see the breakdown of budget and actuals match, we have our eye on the bottom line at all times. We want this to be a fun experience for everyone. We want you to be comfortable with us, not just the deal. As one of our passives put it, they bet on the jockey, not the horse. Read our resumes, check out our LinkedIn profiles. You will find both of us approachable, we will not pretend to have all the answers, but we will always find them. We cannot guarantee that nothing will go wrong, but if it does, we will fix it. We are usually level-headed and don’t panic easily - definitely not both at the same time!

On Rupa's first partnership, which consisted of 4 families, some passives played an active role with the property, helping out with color selection, floor plan creation, etc. Our quarterly meetings were leisurely dinners at restaurants or our home. We are as interested in getting to know each other as we are in the dollars and cents discussions. We do organize happy hours for fun. We and our spouses look forward to these meetings.

Property Management

We owner-manged our first few deals to keep hands-on control of property management and to make the most of the property management software to run the business. Now, with 5 properties to oversee, we have decided to focus on just that: overseeing. We're very happy with what we have learned over the years and now work with our management company to implement our strategies. They don't mind accommodating us, in fact, they use many of our ideas on their other properties. Yes, Rupa probably does drive them nuts.

Skin in the game

Regardless of the Lifestyles guideline, we will always have skin in the game. As someone with a financial stake in the property, we also have a vested interest in ensuring that the property is well-managed and gives the best returns.

Hands-on mentorship for future leads

As managers who managed teams in our past careers, you will find that we are great mentors. If you are in our deal, you will hear more than you care to.

Informed passives

We want you to be informed passives, if you are not already familiar with the Lead Investor Guidelines, find it on the Lifestyles hub and go through it. Listen to Del’s training for passive investors, also on the hub.

Doing whatever it takes

During the initial months of takeover, we put in up to 100 hours a week, including working late nights and weekends. We are the co-CEOs (Chief Everything Officer). Even though we are the lead investors, our spouses are committed to making us successful. They keep the household running while we are working the crazy hours. Nitin and Karina are not at Lifestyles very often, but give them 2 thumbs up next time you see them.

Integrity

You can rest assured that we will treat your investment with more care than we do our own. We strongly believe in the saying “what goes around comes around”, and strive to do the right thing even if it means slightly less returns in the short term. Additionally, a percentage of Rupa's lead compensation will go towards charity, enabling others to have a better life. A large portion of it will be through children.org, www.kiva.org and www.heifer.org . She is on a mission to “be the reason someone smiles today”.

Happy Investing!